After more than three decades of public service, Regional Water Resource Agency Executive Director Joe Schepers has announced his plans to retire next summer.
Schepers, who has led RWRA for the past 11 years, said the decision comes after 31 total years working in the local government system. He officially submitted his retirement resignation last week, setting July 2026 as his final month.
“I’ve got 31 years in the system, and it’s about time to start doing some woodworking and some camping,” Schepers said. “I enjoy woodworking, I enjoy camping, and we enjoy traveling, spending time with kids and grandkids. I’ll probably still work part-time somewhere — I can’t see myself going from a thousand miles an hour to a dead stop.”
A structural engineer by trade, Schepers began his career designing roadway bridges, spending nearly a decade in that field before joining the City of Owensboro in the mid-1990s as city engineer. He served in that role for nearly 20 years before being named RWRA’s executive director in 2014.
During his tenure, Schepers oversaw more than $70 million in upgrades to the community’s two wastewater treatment plants — both of which were rebuilt to meet modern standards.
“The plant upgrades are something I’m proud of,” he said. “We’ve gone from being out of compliance with the Division of Water and receiving notices of violation to having two plants that are state-of-the-art and have capacity for the next 20 years of growth.”
Schepers said one of the most challenging periods of his career came during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There’s not an owner’s manual for COVID — no ‘how-to’ guide,” he said. “That was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. Everything else is math; you can solve everything else. But that was uncharted territory.”
RWRA will begin advertising this week for Schepers’ successor, with plans to interview candidates through the winter. The goal is to hire a new executive director by early next year, allowing for several months of overlap before Schepers’ retirement.
“The job description is pretty specific,” he said. “We’d like for it to be an engineer, but that’s not a requirement. It will likely be a nationwide search to find the right candidate.”
Reflecting on his career, Schepers said he’s grateful for the opportunity to serve his hometown.
“I’ve really enjoyed working for both the city and regional water,” he said. “I was project manager on the construction of the convention center and the entire riverfront development — all the river wall, the downtown scale. I went straight from opening the convention center to RWRA. I’ve enjoyed working for the community I grew up in.”
Schepers, who was born and raised in Owensboro, said he and his wife are looking forward to continuing to call Daviess County home.
“Not everybody can say they got to work in and serve the same community they grew up in,” he said. “That’s been pretty special.”
